30 American cities most at risk of Zika virus

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A recent poll revealed that Americans don’t know much about the Zika virus — a disease that many South American countries believe is a serious threat. Of the few who have some knowledge of Zika, many don’t know if the mosquito-borne illness can be passed on or if it’s treatable, according to a survey done by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

This lack of awareness and understanding could potentially pose a problem, as Zika is slowly-but-surely prowling towards the United States. If the virus does penetrate more of the country (346 U.S. cases have already been reported to be brought in from abroad) HeathGrove found the 50 cities that would likely be most afflicted with Zika.

Using data from a recent study in the Public Library of Science (PLOS) HeathGrove considered five factors that would warrant a high risk for a Zika epidemic:

– Counties with recent local Dengue and/or Chikungunya transmission
– Potential abundance of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (known to carry the virus) in January and July, classified as None, Low, Moderate, or High
– Estimated monthly average arrivals to the U.S. from countries on the CDC Zika travel advisory
– Population

HealthGrove then weighted all of these factors (in the order listed above) to calculate an overall “risk level” of a Zika epidemic in each city, scored out of 10. The city with the highest risk level had the score closest to 10.

When studying the results, the health site found that the biggest risk areas in the United States are in the South and Southeast—particularly Florida and its surrounding states. These warm, humid climates are ideal for mosquitoes to thrive. They also receive many visitors from South and Central America (where many countries plagued with Zika are found) due to their relative proximity.

The risk levels were rounded to the nearest hundredth place, though their ranking reflects each city’s unrounded score. In the case of a true tie, the tie goes to the city with a higher population.